Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 5, 2025
08:05
Measuring Statistical Learning Across Modalities and Domains in School-Aged Children Via an Online Platform and Neuroimaging Techniques
Published on: June 30, 2020
7.9K
Predicting Academic Achievement with Cognitive Abilities: Cross-Sectional Study across School Education
Tatiana Tikhomirova1,2, Artem Malykh3, Sergey Malykh1,2
1Department of Psychology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 125009 Moscow, Russia.
Behavioral Sciences (Basel, Switzerland)
|October 21, 2020
Summary
Information processing speed is a key predictor of cognitive abilities like fluid intelligence and working memory, significantly impacting academic achievement throughout schooling. This finding highlights the foundational role of processing speed in learning and cognitive development.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Educational Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- Academic achievement is crucial for educational success.
- Cognitive abilities are known to influence academic performance.
- Understanding these relationships across different school levels is important for targeted interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the relationship between cognitive abilities and academic achievement from grades 1 to 11.
- To identify key cognitive predictors of general academic success.
- To model these relationships across the entire schooling period.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study of 1560 pupils (ages 6.8-19.1).
- Assessed information processing speed, visuospatial working memory, number sense, and fluid intelligence.
- Utilized computerized tests and the Standard Progressive Matrices; analyzed data with correlation and structural equation modeling.
Main Results:
- A single model effectively describes the cognitive-academic relationship across all schooling levels.
- Information processing speed emerged as the primary predictor of fluid intelligence, working memory, and number sense.
- These cognitive abilities, in turn, significantly predict academic achievement.
Conclusions:
- Information processing speed plays a foundational role in cognitive development and academic success.
- The established model provides a unified framework for understanding cognitive influences on achievement.
- Specificity in these relationships exists at different educational stages.
Keywords:
academic achievementcognitive abilitycross-sectional studyfluid intelligenceinformation processing speednumber senseschoolingvisuospatial working memoryMore Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
01:30Information Processing Approach
353
The information-processing theory of cognitive development centers on fundamental mental processes, including attention, memory, and problem-solving skills. Researchers in this field examine how cognitive abilities, such as working memory, evolve and influence children's overall development. Studies indicate that children with stronger working memory tend to excel in reading comprehension, math, and problem-solving compared to peers with less efficient memory skills. Low working memory is...
353
01:30Biological Influences on Intelligence
384
Intelligence is often thought to be linked to brain size, but the relationship is more complex than that. While brain size does correlate modestly with some abilities, like verbal skills, the connection is weaker for others, such as spatial reasoning. Other factors, like brain structure, also play crucial roles. For instance, despite Einstein's smaller-than-average brain, his parietal cortex, which is involved in spatial reasoning, was 15% wider, suggesting that neural density might matter...
384
01:18Cognitive Development During Adolescence
341
During adolescence, individuals experience significant cognitive development that enhances their understanding of others' emotions and thoughts, known as cognitive empathy. This period is marked by an increased ability to adapt to others' perspectives and a more nuanced understanding of others' mental states, a skill that is foundational for social problem-solving and conflict avoidance. The development of cognitive empathy relies heavily on the theory of mind — the...
341
02:20Correlations
35.5K
Correlation means that there is a relationship between two or more variables (such as ice cream consumption and crime), but this relationship does not necessarily imply cause and effect. When two variables are correlated, it simply means that as one variable changes, so does the other. We can measure correlation by calculating a statistic known as a correlation coefficient. A correlation coefficient is a number from -1 to +1 that indicates the strength and direction of the relationship between...
35.5K
01:29Environmental Influences on Intelligence
714
Despite the strong genetic influence on traits like intelligence, environmental factors significantly shape outcomes. For example, while over 90% of height variation is due to genetic differences, environmental factors such as nutrition also have a notable impact. Similarly, for intelligence, changes in a child's surroundings can significantly alter their IQ. Research shows that enriched environments boost children's academic success and help them develop key cognitive skills. Children...
714
01:17Cognitivism
2.5K
Cognitive psychology emerged as a significant field in the mid-20th century. It focused on understanding humans' internal mental processes. This approach emphasizes how people perceive, remember, think, and solve problems—elements critical to human cognition.
Previously dominated by behaviorism, which prioritized observable behaviors and largely ignored mental processes, psychology transformed in the 1950s. Cognitive psychologists argue that understanding how we think and process...
Previously dominated by behaviorism, which prioritized observable behaviors and largely ignored mental processes, psychology transformed in the 1950s. Cognitive psychologists argue that understanding how we think and process...
2.5K